U.S.-Mexico International Research Experience for Undergraduates: Insect Biodiversity and Anthropogenic Change in the Sonoran Desert

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0440648MarkowThis U.S.-Mexico research experiences for undergraduates activity, organized by professor Therese A. Markow of the University of Arizona, intends to bring together students from the United States and Mexico to conduct original research in the Sonoran desert on the U.S.-Mexico border. Funding will help to support an initial intensive two-week research course offered annually in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico to six students from the U.S. and follow-up activities that will offer the students a variety of related research activities in which to participate. These activities will be divided among research activities in both the U.S. and Mexico. The U.S. students will be joined by a similar number of students from Mexico supported by Mexican and other sources, to promote a truly binational research experience on the topic of insect biodiversity and anthropogenic change in the Sonoran Desert. The project explores insect biodiversity and its interaction with an ecosystem that is experiencing rapid land conversion. The research will also examine the relationship of biodiversity to ecosystem health, climate, economics, disease and anthropogenic change. In addition, the activity will provide students with an understanding of the insect fauna of the region and will explore the effects of habitat loss while encouraging research-based learning of biological concepts.